Republicans Now Control Record Number of State Legislative Chambers

November 17, 2016

Republicans added to their historic 2014 gains in the nation’s state legislatures with the addition of five state House and two state Senate seats in last week’s election, while Democratic control was reduced to levels not seen since the Civil War.

Republicans are now in control of 67 (68 percent) of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers in the nation, more than twice the number (31) in which Democrats have a majority, according to the bipartisan National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

“That’s more than at any other time in the history of the Republican Party,” according to NCSL. “They also hold more total seats, well over 4,100 of the 7,383, than they have since 1920.”

Next year, the GOP will control both legislative chambers in 32 states – an all-time high, according to NCSL – while Democrats will have total control of just 13 state legislatures.

In 24 of the 32 states with Republican-controlled legislatures, voters have also elected Republican governors. In contrast, Democrats have a “political trifecta” in just six states.